So named because of its shy and retiring nature, and its penchant for hiding under toilet seats. If you are reclusive, it means you avoid social interaction.
But I heard on the news an official saying he was “reclusing” himself from certain proceedings. No, good sir, you are “recusing” yourself. This means you are voluntarily withdrawing from a matter because of circumstances which could impact upon your impartiality, like a judge presiding upon her child’s court case, or a surgeon operating on his wife.
So, recluse = that weird, sorta smelly fella living 3 houses down, who has no friends and never says good morning to anybody.
Recuse = doing the honourable thing, removing yourself on principle, a rarity in politics, but let’s not go there!
And by the way: 1) “recluse” is not a verb, and 2) a brown recluse spider probably can kill you, but most of the time it’ll just leave you wishing you were dead.
